Alarm clock



June 13, 1933.

J. F. M. M' PARLAN ALARM CLOCK Filed May 13, 1930 INVENTOR ATTORNEY SPatented June 13, 1933 UNITED STATES JAMES F. M. MCPARLAN, OF NEW YORK,N. Y. V

ALARM CLOCK Application filed May 13, 1930. Serial No. 451,880.

Specifically my invention relates to the alarm mechanism of alarm clocksand provides for a repeating of the alarm. in a manner more effective toget the sleeper out of bed than is provided by the present day clocks.

The ordinary alarm clock rings at whatever time the mechanism is set forand rings continuously until shut off or the alarm spring runs down. If,as is often the case, the sleeper dozes while the alarm is ringing he ismore than likelyto go to sleep again as soon as the alarm stops. To makethe alarm more effective the repeating or intermittent alarm clock hasbeen developed in which the alarm rings for a few seconds, stops for afew seconds, rings again and so on until shut off or run down. Here,too, the sleeper although annoyed by the alarm is prone to ignore it andgo to sleep again when it has stopped.

My idea is to compel the sleeper to get out of bed twice in order tostop the alarm at intervals of several minutes. That is to say, my alarmis not intermittent in the ordinary sense but rings once and then, evenif it is shut off, rings again, say ten minutes later, and keeps onringing until it is again shut off or runs down. I preferably so ad- 30just the alarm setting mechanism that the first alarm rings in advanceof the rising time by say ten minutes as a warning. The sleeper can thenarise, shut off the alarm and return to bed for that last muchappreciated as doze with the knowledge that in ten minutes or at risingtime the alarm will ring again and keep on ringing. For example, if thealarm is set for 7 A. M. the advance alarm will ring at 6 50 and thesecond alarm at 7 oclock.

40 In the preferred form of my invention the sleeper while he can shutoff the advance alarm cannot prevent the ringing of the second alarm.Thus the sleeper is roused by two separate and distinct alarms with thechances in favor of his staying up after he has been compelled to getout of bed the second time to stop the second alarm.

The alarm mechanism includes the single alarm mechanism of an ordinaryalarm clock and additional devices for operating the sec- 0nd alarm.These are few in number, inex pensive, and may be added to an ordinaryalarm clock without alternation of the time and regular alarm. mechanismand with only imple and inexpensive additions to provide the secondalarm mechanism.

One form of my invention is illustrated in the following drawing: 1

Figure 1 is a front elevation of an alarm clock with the dial partly cutaway and the hands removed;

Fig. 2. is a front elevation showing the alarm mechanism;

Fig. 3 is a cross-section of my clock along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a view of a part of the alarm mechamsm;

Fig. 5 is a cross-section on the line 55 of Fig. 2; and

Figs. 6 and 7 are views of certain details of the alarm mechanism.

As I have already said I provide for two separate and distinct alarms,the second ringing preferably several minutes after the other. The firstalarm is caused to ring by the mechanism employed in ordinary alarmclocks Without change. The form which I have selected for purposes ofillustration is as follows: i

I provide the usual bell 1 and hammer operated in the usual way by analarm train of common form and which, consequently, is not shown indetail. Time wheel 3 of the alarm train is freely and slidably mountedas shown upon its arbor 4, said wheel being limited in its forwardmovement by the pin 5- fixed in a collar 6 in the hub 7 of the wheel 3.Hub 7 is normally forced into contact with pin 5 by the flat spring 8one end of i which is fastened to the alarm clock frame 90 as at 9 andthe other end bent so as to engage with the hammer arm 10 to prevent thealarm from ringing except when desired.

In the face of hub 7 is a cam notch 11 into which pin 5 passes when thewheel 3 reaches that point in its revolution set for sounding the alarm.This point is controlled in the usual way by a knob 12 at the rear endof arbor l, the position in which it is set being indicated as usual bya small indicating hand in front of the usual dial.

IVhen the alarm is set for a predetermined time the pin 5 will drop intonotch 11 at that time, wheel 3 will be forced forward by spring 8 andthe hammer mechanism will be released by the disengagement of the freeend of spring 8 therefrom. The alarm will then sound continuously untilthe spring runs down or it is shut off.

By my invention the alarm may be manually shut off but, nevertheless,will ring again at some definite later time, say ten or fifteen minutes,and will continue to ring until the spring runs down or the alarm isshut off by some other manually controlled means which may be providedif desired as, for example, the usual cutofi 21. I wish it clearlyunderstood that my invention is not an intermittent alarm as the term iscommonly understood. Such alarms once they are manually shut off cannotring again. My alarm can ring again after it is manually shut off butonly after the lapse of a considerable number of minutes.

I accomplish this novel action by applying the following mechanism tothe usual alarm mechanism already described. I mount loosely on arbor 4,directly in front of pin 5, a cup shaped cam disk 14;, the edge of whichprojects rearwardly as shown in Figs. 3 and 5. This disk is engaged withpin 5 by some such means as a slot 15 in its edge so that it will turnwhen and only when pin 5 is turned by the rotation of arbor &. The edgeof disk 14 is also provided with projecting teeth 16 so spaced that theywill pass into slots 17 in wheel 3 at certain times as will be describedand will at all other times ride upon or above the web or solid portionof wheel 3. In front of disk 14 is mounted a plate 18 in any suitablemanner to permit of movement in a rearward direction. For example, asshown in Fig. 3 plate 18 may be pivoted upon the clock frame as at 19and the other end suitably bent or formed to engage with the rear sideof lever 20. Lever 20 may be slid-ably mounted as shown in Fig. 3 itsupper end passing through the clock case so that it may be manuallyoperated.

The operation of my device is as follows. The alarm is set in the usualway by turning knob 12 until hand 13 indicates the desired rising time.Lever 20 is placed in its upmost position as shown in Fig. 3. Wheel 3 isdepressed against the action of spring 8 by the engagement of hub 7 andpin 5. When the time set for sounding the alarm arrives pin 5 falls intocam notch 11 permitting wheel 3 and spring 8 to move forward thusreleasing the alarm mechanism. The alarm may then be shut off by pushinglever 20 downwardly to cause plate 18 to move backwardly carrying withit cam disk 14. Since the teeth 18 of disk 1 1 are riding upon the webor solid portion of wheel 3 this wheel and also the spring 8 will beforced back whereupon the alarm will be stopped by the re-engagement ofthe free end of spring 8 with the alarm mechanism.

Cam disk 1% is so positioned that the teeth 16 are riding upon the solidportion of wheel 3 as stated above. However, teeth 16 are so positionedthat after the desired number of minutes from the first alarm haveelapsed they will register with slots 17 in wheel 3 permitting wheel 3to move forward again under the tension of spring 8 again disengagingthe free end of the spring from the alarm mechanism whereby the alarmwill ring again and will continue to ring until the spring runs down orthe alarm is manually shut ofi' again. This cannot be done by lever 18.To again and permanently shut oh the alarm other means must be providedwhich may be of any well known form. I prefer, however, if anothercutoff means is provided to interlock the two shut-off devices so thatwhen the first alarm mechanism is set the second alarm cutoff cannot beoperated. This may be done in numerous ways which will readily occur tothose skilled in the art, one of which is shown in the drawing.

As I have already shown the second alarm is set by pushing down lever 20whereas the entire alarm mechanism is locked by a separate cutoff devicesuch as 21. A person only half awake'may unintentionally operate cutoff21 instead of alarm setting lever 20 and go to sleep again with thebelief that the second alarm will ring. To prevent this sort of error Iprovide a guard plate 9.2 as part of lever 20 said plate being sopositioned that when lever :20 is in its up position the plate liesbetween cutoff 21 and hammer arm 10. Then cutoff 21 cannot be operatedto stop the alarm. However, when lever 20 is pushed down plate 22 movesout of the path of cutoff 21 which can then be operated to lock thealarm mechanism if desired.

The form of my device which I have selected for purposes of illustrationis only one of many. Numerous alterations in detail are possible withoutdeparting from the object and scope of my invention. For example, thecam disk 14; may be modified in many respects to meet the particularmanufacturing problems but its general purpose and mode of operationwill remain the same.

Similarly other parts may be altered in form Without departing from thespirit of my invention. Since I believe that I am the first to invent analarm of the type described I consider myself entitled to a broad rangeof equivalents insofar as detailed design is concerned. The gist of myinvention as clearly appears from the above description is an alarmWhich will ring at a stated time, which may be positively shut ofl, butwhich will ring again after the lapse of a stated number of minuteswithout other manual adj ustment and will then continue to ring untilagain shut off by other means or until the spring runs down.

I claim:

1. In an alarm mechanism of the class described, means for setting thealarm to ring at any desired time, manually controlled means forstopping the alarm and setting it to ring again at a later time, andmanual means for stopping the second alarm, means on said first stoppingand setting means projecting into the path of movement of said secondstopping means to prohibit the operation of the second stopping meansuntil after the first means has been operated.

2. In an alarm clock, an alarm setting means, means associated therewithfor operating the alarm detent whereby the alarm is automaticallyreleased at the time determined by the setting means, manuallycontrolled means for again operating said detent operating means to stopthe alarm and set it to ring again automatically at the expiration of apredetermined period, means for permanently cutting off the alarm, andmeans on said manually controlled means for preventing the operation ofthe permanent cut-off means until after the manually controlled meanshas been operated.

3. In an alarm clock, a revolvable spindle having a pin therein, a hubslidably mounted on said spindle behind said pin and having a recess forthe reception of said pin, a gear for driving said hub in synchronismwith the clock movement, a spring behind said hub for maintaining it inengagement with said pin, whereby it is enabled to move forward upon thespindle to release the alarm detent when said pin enters said recess,manually operated means on said spindle for restoring said hub to itsoriginal position, and means on said hub which cooperates with saidrestoring means to release the hub so that it can again move forward toagain release the alarm.

4. In an alarm clock, a revolvable spindle having a pin therein, a hubslidably mounted on said spindle behind said pin and having a recess forthe reception of said pin, a gear for driving said hub in synchronismwith the clock movement, a spring behind said hub for maintaining it inengagement with said pin, whereby it is enabled to move forward upon thespindle to release the alarm detent when said pin enters said recess,manually operated means on said spindle for restoring said hub to itsoriginal position, means on said hub which cooperates with saidrestoring means to release the hub so that it can again move forward toagain release the alarm, means for permanently cutting off the alarm andmeans on said restoring means for preventing the operation of saidpermanent cut-off means until after said restoring means has beenoperated.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand on this 6th day of May,A. D. 1930. JAMES F. M. MOPARLAN.

